Warlocks & Warfare_A Grimmer Legacy novel

by Eleanor Rousseau

I nodded miserably.

  “The bastard’s days are numbered,” she told me. She was a good friend. “How do we undo this? I mean, it’s not a bad look but if Misha did it then it can’t do much good.”

  She was right. “I’ve no idea how to fix it.”

  She gave me a thoughtful look. “You want to binge-watch Netflix and ignore whatever this is until tomorrow?”

  I smiled, I like how she got me. “Sounds good.”

  SOMEHOW WE WOUND UP watching a horror movie at three in the morning. It was at a particularly tense movement when the door to the kitchen flew open. We both screamed, not because we were genuinely scared, just because it seemed the thing to do.

  By the time the light came on we were both laughing. Avon frowned at us from the doorway, then his eyes widened. “Little one, what happened?” he demanded, moving closer and eyeing me with a slightly bewildered expression.

  My smile dropped suddenly and I bowed my head slightly as if I could hide what had been done to me from his gaze.

  He dropped to his knees in front of me and cupped my face, brushing his fingers down my cheek. “What is this?” he asked, frowning deeply.

  I bit my lip. “My father...”

  His eyes darkened, “I’ll tear him limb from limb.”

  “And deny me the pleasure?” I raised an eyebrow. For some reason, I found his anger comforting.

  He traced the lines on my face with his finger, tilting his head slightly. “What would cause this?”

  “He seemed to imply that it’s a glamour.”

  He raised an eyebrow, “A Witches glamour?”

  “Apparently that’s a thing but unlike you guys, we need to be more than half magic.” I bit my lip and blinked rapidly.

  Maya squeezed my shoulder after switching off the tv and left the room, probably sensing that we could use privacy. She was cool like that.

  “If it’s a glamour it can be removed whenever you wish it,” he reassured me, kissing my nose.

  “I don’t know how.” I sounded almost as miserable as I felt.

  He kissed my cheek, “First thing in the morning I will teach you.” He promised.

  Suddenly the weight of the day and the lateness of the hour hit me. “Would you mind... my hands?” I asked tiredly.

  He took my hands, frowning deeply as he unwrapped the bandages. He bent down to kiss the heel of each hand before holding his palms over mine. He blinked, “It’s not working, I- I can’t heal them.”

  I bit my lip, that couldn’t be good. “I wanted to take a shower, could you help me?” I could hardly wash myself without the use of my hands.

  “Of course, love.”

  “There’s some healing paste in the bathroom that hardens like glue, it should keep the water from stinging the wounds,” I said, rising unsteadily.

  He rested an arm around my waist and we walked from the room. He closed the toilet seat, encouraging me to sit. Then he opened the cabinet.

  “It’s in the purple tube,” I told him.

  “Got it.” He brought my hands to the sink. “I want something from you, love,” he said, seriously, dipping a washcloth beneath the water before carefully cleaning my wounds.

  I winced a little and raised an eyebrow at him.

  He glanced down at my hands, some sort of internal conflict going on behind his eyes. “We can discuss it later.”

  “It sounded serious.”

  He frowned as he studied my palms. “These look like some kind of runes.” Apparently, our previous discussion was over. I let it go, the last thing I wanted was to argue.

  “It would make sense.”

  He unscrewed the lid and began to squeeze the soothing salve onto the cuts. “How’s that?” he asked as he covered the last cut.

  I tilted my head to kiss him briefly, “Thank you. It just needs a minute to dry.”

  “This should never have happened to you,” he said seriously. “I need to put you on a leash.” He smiled but his eyes held shadows.

  I moved closer, resting my head against the crook of his neck. “How did you know to come?”

  “I’ll always come for you, love. Your brother told me you hadn’t reported in and he couldn’t get a hold of you.” He ran his fingers through my hair.

  “I don’t understand how this can keep happening,” I said, enjoying the warmth of his body.

  “It won’t happen, not ever again, you hear me?”

  I leaned back to meet his gaze, “How can you be so sure?”

  “I’m going to make sure. I’ll turn the water on.” He kissed my cheek, then he straightened and removed his shirt. I caught my breath at the sight of his bare chest. He really was magnificent. He reached over to turn on the shower before coming back to me.

  He tugged me gently to my feet “Why do I believe you?” It wasn’t logical.

  His smile made me feel all kinds of warm inside. “Because you trust me.” He nudged my jacket from my shoulders before tugging the shirt over my head.

  “It makes no sense, you’re a Daemon making unrealistic promises.”

  “I’m your Daemon.” He nuzzled my neck, “And I keep my promises.” He unlatched my bra and discarded it before dropping to his knees. “Your skin, it seems paler now,” he observed, leaning forward to kiss my stomach.

  I moaned, my skin still unusually sensitive.

  “The change often leaves one's form feeling tender, especially early on,” he murmured as he unzipped my jeans. He let his fingers drag along my skin as he pulled them down. I braced myself against the sink at my back.

  I stepped out of them at his urging and panted softly in anticipation. “Avon,” I breathed.

  “Beneath the water, love,” he instructed gently, nudging me towards the water as he finished undressing.

  I waited, my gaze fixed on him as he undressed.

  “I gave you an order,” he growled playfully.

  “I need you,” I told him.

  He frowned a little, “Not just now, love, not until you get some rest.”

  I stepped up to him, shuddering as our bodies touched, “Please, Avon,” I gasped.

  “I could hurt you in your current state, love.”

  “I don’t care.” My body craved his touch. I rubbed myself against him, groaning in pleasure that was so acute it was almost painful.

  “Stop this, love, a man can only resist so much.” He gave in to the urge to suck on my neck and I let out a content breath.

  “Now, Avon, I can’t- I need you,” I gasped.

  He grasped my hips, making me groan, and carried me into the shower.

  As the spray hit my skin I cried out softly. “Stop, I change my mind.”

  “I’ll be as gently and fast as I can,” he promised as he began to wash me.

  As soon as he was done washing me he carefully patted me down with a towel and carried me to the bed, I was glad for his help because I felt shaky and sore all over. He set me down gently beneath my sheets and kissed my cheek, “I’ll be right back.”

  I fell asleep almost immediately, into a sleep so deep I didn’t even stir when he returned.

  I AWOKE STILL IN PAIN, still in a skin that wasn’t my own. It felt like the very air was vibrating against my skin, “What are you both doing here?” I moaned softly, trying to get my bearings.

  “He wanted to see it for himself,” said Avon and the vibrations in the air hit me a little harder as he spoke.

  The other vibrations in the room were weirdly distinctive, they moved in a way that was somehow familiar. “Jay,” I murmured. This was weird, it was like sonar, an uncomfortable, itchy kind of sonar. I shifted and my wrist brushed against something covering my breast.

  “Why would you dress me?” I murmured sleepily. And how had he dressed me without waking me?

  “I didn’t,” said Avon.

  I sat up abruptly, opening my eyes. Medium sized scalelike things covered my breast, reaching down in a V that almost reached my navel. I tossed away the blanket covering my lower half and stepped o
ff the bed.

  “Wow, that’s more than I ever needed to see.” Jay turned away.

  Two more groups of scales appeared on either side of my belly button, there were almost diamond shaped and a large piece of fabric lead from one to the other, joining at the back. The fabric type stuff was transparent, reached midway to my calf and was the same deep purple as the scales.

  I walked to my dresser and pulled on a pair of girls boxers. “Now I look like a concubine!” I exclaimed.

  Avon patted Jay’s shoulder. “It’s safe to look.” He was certainly looking.

  “Relatively safe,” I corrected.

  Jay turned slowly, looking reluctantly. “Is the skirt thing naturally occurring?” he asked.

  “I sure as hell didn’t put it there.” It wasn’t a full skirt, the gap at the front between the two groupings of scales was open.

  Avon stepped closer, “It can’t be fabric, it must be skin based.”

  That didn’t make me feel any better. “Why do I have it? it’s impractical, anybody could just grab it.”

  He was thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged, “The same could be said for hair.”

  “I can tie hair back to keep it out of my way. I need to put some clothes on, to cover it up,” I said, rubbing my forehead.

  Avon caught my chin and made me meet his gaze. “You need not hide this form, little one.”

  “You need to help me change back, right now.”

  He frowned a little, “I think you should spend a little time adjusting to it before changing back.”

  I blinked suddenly, “I don’t want this, I don’t even know what this is!” I gestured to myself.

  “This is a full-blooded Witch, in all her glory.” He bent down and captured my lips. I softened in his grasp, relaxing instead of getting worked up about things I couldn’t change. It was only when he pulled away that I realised Jay had left the room.

  Avons thumb came down to idly rub the scales over my breast, “Not aquatic, not quite reptilian...” His tone was thoughtful, then his eyes widened. “Dragon.”

  “What?”

  He smiled, “I read once that the original dragon riders were Warlocks and Witches.”

  “There’s not been a confirmed sighting of a dragon in all of recorded history,” I told him.

  “Not in your recorded history,” he corrected.

  I looked down at the scales with new eyes, “That’s kind of cool.”

  He continued rubbing them with his thumb, the motion spreading tingles through me, “How do they feel?”

  “Weird, like thick skin... um, what-” I blushed furiously, “What happened to...” I frowned, puzzled but not willing to vocalize the question.

  He smirked but scratched the back of his head as he eyed my breasts, “That’s a good question.” He apparently thought it was a good enough question to grant further probing, literally.

  I batted his hand away, “They’re not going to appear,” I informed him.

  He grinned sheepishly. “Your brother expressed a desire to expose you to your uncle’s goo bath.”

  “Ew, I’ll let him run most tests but I’m not going through that again.” I walked to my wardrobe and started to get dressed. High waisted jeans were out. I settled for an old pair of grey skinny jeans and a black tank top.

  “Urgh, if I have to keep this for much longer I’m going to have to figure out a way to incorporate it into my wardrobe,” I stated. Amber could probably help me with that.

  “It’s fine, you look lovely as ever,” Avon assured me.

  The compliment took me back a little, how does one even respond to a compliment? “Thanks?” I grabbed my grey leather jacket and pulled it on.

  He smirked a little, “You’re welcome.”

  “Tell Jay I’ll be right there after I use the bathroom.” I kissed his cheek.

  “Yes, boss.” He shot me a wink before leaving the room.

  Chapter Seventeen

  A few minutes later I stepped into the kitchen and pulled on the boots I had discarded on the floor. “Be honest, how noticeable are the changes?” I asked the two men as I rose to my feet.

  “They could probably be explained away by a lot of money spent on cosmetic surgery, and maybe a drunken bet.” Jay eyed the tattoo-like designs.

  “Well that makes me feel better,” I said sarcastically, frowning at him.

  “Yours is a beauty no doctor could ever hope to replicate,” Avon told me wrapping an arm around my waist.

  Jay rolled his eyes and headed out the door.

  “Okay, enough with the compliments, my ego is satisfied.” I followed Jay out.

  Avon chuckled, “It makes you uncomfortable,” he accused.

  “Well, yeah, I mean what am I supposed to do with that? Say you look pretty too?”

  He grinned, “About time you noticed,” he teased as we reached Jay’s car. He opened the passenger side door for me, kissing my cheek. “I’ve got my car, I’ll meet you there.”

  I smiled, “Okay.”

  I sat inside and he closed the door for me, after checking my skirt thing wouldn’t get caught. Would that hurt? I didn’t want to find out.

  Relaxing back into the seat, I glanced out at the street as Jay pulled away. “You knew about Tia, didn’t you?” I asked.

  “The husband, or the baby?” he asked.

  I grinned, I should have known he’d be the first to figure it out, “She didn’t tell you so how’d you find out?”

  “She’s tried very hard to keep it from us, I just noticed the effort it was taking.”

  “And the baby?” She can’t have been pregnant for very long if even her husband didn’t know.

  “She went to see a doctor, I was concerned.”

  “So you bespelled the doctor to divulge confidential information.” I shot him a judgmental look.

  He smiled impishly.

  My brother, ladies and gents, you couldn’t keep anything from him. “Well, if I ever find myself in a similar situation I’ll be buying a home test... with cash.”

  He laughed, “You’ll announce it immediately, either to piss off everyone who doesn’t like Daemons or to prove you’re no longer the baby of the family.”

  I bit my lip, “So you have spoken to Tia.”

  “Maybe a little.” He grinned.

  “Does she know about your intrusive behaviour?”

  “No, I discovered her during a bout of morning sickness and she confessed.”

  I shook my head. “I still can’t believe she kept it quiet for so long. You guys thought I was seeing Avon even before I actually was.”

  He chuckled, “We were right, though, there was something between you.”

  “You all knew I was seducing him for the mission.”

  “No one is that good at seducing,” he informed me.

  I was slightly offended by that, “I’ve got half a mind to go and seduce someone else just to prove you wrong.”

  He glanced at me, smirking, “If you do make sure they’re a bad person so when your boyfriend tears their throat out it’s no big loss.”

  I smiled, “You’re right, I’m pretty sure that would come under reckless endangerment.”

  He smiled and reached over to squeeze my shoulder, “You’ll be a good aunt,” he told me.

  “I better be, the poor kid’s only going to have two of them. She’ll have plenty of uncles. How many of you are there now... thirty?” I teased.

  He chuckled, “Might as well be. Are you ready for this?” he asked, having pulled into the building's parking lot.

  “As I’ll ever be.” I ran my fingers through my hair.

  He paused, eyes catching on the action. I brought my hand down and he blinked after a moment. “Careful with that,” he murmured, clearing his throat before stepping out of the car.

  “Wait, what happened?” I asked, stepping out.

  “Doing that seemed to have some sort of mesmerising effect,” he said as he walked.

  I hurried to keep up with him, “R
eally, to what degree?”

  “It invoked a desire to see the motion repeated, which by extension made pleasing you seem to be in my best interests,” he told me.

  “Awesome!” Maybe there were some upsides to this. As soon as I thought that I felt guilty and reminded myself that this was a gift I didn’t want from a man I despised.

  “Not awesome, you need to be careful.”

  “That’s going to be difficult, I always play with my hair. I might have to tie it back.” Or use hairspray, neither option appealed to me. I liked my hair natural and loose.

  My hands were halfway to my hair when I forced them back down. Now that I knew I shouldn’t it would be difficult not to. We walked up the stairs but I paused when we stepped out onto the office floor.

  I hid behind Jay, “Did you know mum was here?” I demanded, my voice a soft hiss.

  “What are you talking about, she’s-” he broke off as mum stepped out of the hallway that led to the private offices.

  “There’s my boy!” she exclaimed. “Amber said you ran out of here pretty fast this morning.”

  “I had some business,” he replied, uncertainly.

  “If you’re avoiding me, Kia, you could try a little harder,” she added.

  “I’m not Kia, I’m clearly a doppelganger,” I informed her, without stepping out from behind Jay.

  “You do sound different, are you wearing a voice modulator?”

  That gave me an idea. “Yes, I’m infiltrating a high-end underground club, this is my disguise,” I told her, proud of the lie. I stepped up beside Jay.

  She blinked. “What exactly are you supposed to be?” she asked with a small frown.

  “Um... some sort of... nymph.”

  Her frown deepened, “I’m sorry dear, but the colour scheme is all wrong. You want more of a forest green,” she told me.

  “You are absolutely right.” Magic zinged through my body and she blinked in surprise.

  I glanced at Jay, “What?” He looked surprised too.

  “It changed colour,” he stated, bewildered.

  “Huh?” I pulled open the neckline on my shirt, just enough to glimpse the now green scales.

  “Of course it did,” I said quickly. “I enchanted it to do that.”